James Trotter (1753 - 1827)

Born 1 Apr 1753 in Augusta, Virginia

Ancestors

Died 13 Jul 1827 at age 74 in Lexington, Fayette, Kentucky, United States

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Biography

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~trotter/clarkeletters.htm Note the death date they had verses the date of death recorded.

The Evening Post, New York, New York - 24 Aug 1827. Died/death column/mentions. At Lexington, (KY)Col. James Trotter.

Louisville Public Advertiser, Louisville, KY 18 Aug 1827. Obituary section - Died at his residence near this place, on the 12th inst. Col. JAMES TROTTER, one of the oldest inhabitants of Fayette County, and a most respectable and useful man. [KY Gazette]

After a break in to the Trotter Vault, one editor wrote the following.

Morning Herald [Kentucky] 25 Apr 1899 – Law and Sentiment Outraged Under Sections 1335 and 1336 of the Kentucky Statutes it is made a misdemeanor for anyone to unlawfully or secretly disinter or displace any dead human body from the grave or vault in which it has been deposited, or any one to willfully mutilate the rave in which any one has been buried. This is a proper law and ought to be enforced. It is particularly so in the State.

Formerly each family had its family burying ground near to the family homestead, in which were buried the members of the family and its servants. These burying grounds as rule were inclosed [sic] in stone fences. It is not often that the homestead remains in the same family for several generations, and, therefore, these burying grounds are left to the protection of the sentiment of humanity, which makes graves and grave yards sacred, and to the law. It has been found difficult to preserve such burying grounds and many of our larger families have taken the precaution to remove their dead and the monuments over their graves to public cemeteries.

Among the most conspicuous of the early families of Lexington and Fayette County was the Trotter family. The beautiful woodland now known as Chautauqua, and the suburb known as Woodland was owned by this family, and the mansion house erected by it. The plantation originally was much larger than the 110 acres known as the Erwin place, or Woodland, and included what was known as the "Trotter woods" and many other acres on the southwest side of the Tate's Creek pike.

The descendants of that family are still among us, among the most respectable of our citizens. Leslie Combs, Esq., Captain Samuel T. Leavy, at one time Senator from the Woodford District, and various others represent the present generation of Trotters. The history of Lexington could not be written no understood without frequent mention of this name. Members of this family were actors in some of the most dramatic and sensational events in our history; among them were men of the highest ability and character, who filled the most important stations; and among the women of the family were some of the most beautiful, attractive and fascinating women of the nation.

Very early, possibly over a century ago, Mr. Trotter constructed in the thick woods now lying on the northwest of the Tate's Creek pike a large and imposing vault, and it was for probably over ninety years one of the most conspicuous and well-known of the landmarks of Lexington and Fayette County. "Trotter's Woods" and "Trotter's Vault" were as well known as the fair grounds or race course of cemetery is now known. It is inconceivable that anyone who ever lived in Lexington could have been so ignorant of the history of Lexington, and of its families and of its surroundings as not to have known of the conspicuity of the Trotter family and of the existence of the Trotter Vault.

There is, therefore, no excuse that we can imagine for the desecration of that vault, for the wanton and sacriligous [sic] sacking of tis chambers and the savage distribution of the sacred relics therein contained. We can not conceive of how it was possible for any one to confound it with an Indian mound or to imagine that some ancient relic had been discovered. We have no personal feeling in this matter, and we did not on yesterday refer to the remarkable article in The Sunday Leader. Because we thought it best to wait until the descendants of the Trotters could have an opportunity to see that article, and to take such steps as they might think proper.

But there is a public side to this as well as a private side. Scattered all over Kentucky are family graveyards. Many of them are located upon farms long passed out of the ownership and control of the families represented by the dead in those graves. The protection to those grave yards lies partly in the prompt execution of the law and in the name of those Kentuckians scattered all over the South, West and East, we submit to the authorities of Fayette County whether it is not imperative to see that this action is investigated and that the perpetrators of this outrage upon the dead are punished.

According to Find A Grave his birth date is May 1853 and his death date is 5 August 1827. [1]

Sources

• Source: S1001272205 Repository: #R1000059927 Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=13756726&pid=736
• Repository: R1000059927 Ancestry.com

• Created by: Big Sur Baby Added: 18 Apr 2012

Find A Grave Memorial 88726184 Source Hide citation Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 27 October 2019), memorial page for Col James Trotter (May 1753–5 Aug 1827), Find A Grave Memorial no. 88726184, citing Trotter Family Vault, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, USA  ; Maintained by Big Sur Baby (contributor 47052153) .